The End Is Also The Beginning

And what do you know? Before you know it, in the blink of an eye, it's the end of 2012. But that also signifies the beginning of a new year, 2013! It's amazing how things have changed within a span of a year. How all the great stories happened throughout this eventful year. From the Euro, to the US Presidential Elections, to Hurricane Sandy, to more localized news like all the sex scandals and stuff. Of course not forgetting the most influential YouTube video of all time which surpassed 1 billion views not too long ago, as well as the supposed end of the world on 21 Nov 2012. All these events have affected every single human on Earth in one way or another.

So how the year been for everyone? For myself, it sure is another eventful year. I can remember that I had 3 jobs last year, and this year, quite an improvement - down to 2. LOL... Nothing much eventful besides a change of job and phone - iPhone 4 to Samsung Galaxy S3. Well... I wasn't given a choice, since my iPhone 4 gave up on me and decided to stop displaying anything on its screen. It could still work perfectly fine - picking up calls, even playing songs etc, as long as I know where to tap, without any display on the screen. Took almost two months for me to retrieve my iPhone 4 from this handphone repair shop at Sim Lim Square. This guy kept procrastinating and assured that the next few days he will be able to repair my phone, but according to my memory, it took me up to 8 to 10 calls and he still couldn't deliver. Hence enough is enough, and I collected my phone by hook or by crook two days ago. It's still unusable, but at least I know I won't let him hold onto my phone over the new year. What a bad experience. The least he could do is tell me he can't do it, and not to hold onto my phone for so long.

Change is certainly not a bad thing. At least that's what I realized after I got my Samsung Galaxy S3. Even after my i4 died, I was reluctant to change to a new phone, thinking that it could be repaired. Hence it could be partly my fault that I allowed the repair guy to keep procrastinating. I didn't want to change to a new phone, specifically an Android phone. Neither did I want to get the iPhone 5, since it isn't really much different from an i4. Even till the day when I was queuing up at the Singtel shop at VivoCity, I was still undecided between the two. I didn't really researched much on the S3, nor even wanted to learn much about Android phones, as I was an Apple "fan" ever since I got my i3. I even waited almost two years to get my hands on the i3 and didn't want to get a new phone over my previous phone, the Sony Ericsson K700i. Holy cow, it's still in my drawer! (Just took it out and couldn't find it's model, so had to google it.)

I never really paid any attention to any Android phones. So I never knew how good or bad they were. Ever since I got my hands on the S3, I also wasn't very enthusiastic about using it. It's my Dear who was happily playing around with it lol. What stopped me from getting the S3 was also because I couldn't use all the apps that I was using on the i4, like the Japanese apps, some games, etc. Worse was the S3 doesn't even have any default Japanese input option. That really put me off. Luckily Dear found out that installing certain apps could produce the same effect of having the Japanese input on the iPhones, and even predictive text. So in no time, I was pretty used to using it already. In fact, I honestly think that the S3 is really much more useful and has more functionality than the Apple phones. Best of all, all you have to do to transfer any media onto it is just like any thumbdrive or harddisk, just plug and play. iTunes is really a headache and waste of time.

What has this post become an iPhone vs Samsung phone article? LOL

This IS the last post for the year 2012. 2013 will be an even better year definitely. 明年会更好!

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Time for a Movie Review!

Haven't been watching much shows lately. But this movie is rather disappointing. I loved the LotR series so I was really looking forward to this show. Luckily Nut had free tickets for us and therefore Dear and I went to catch this show together at GV @ Marina Square. It's Nut's company event for free movie screening, complete with popcorns and soft drinks. How cool is that?

This movie is made up of several mini-movies. An almost three hour show, broken up into mini scenes. There's a scene of Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit, being made a fool by the thirteen dwarves when they took over his house and created havoc. Then there's a scene of all of them fighting with some mountain trolls. Then there's the part where everyone has been waiting for. Bilbo encounters Gollum, and they play a riddle game. Not much of the show really sinks into my mind. But there is one part whereby Bilbo applied what Gandalf taught him, to spare Gollum's life, which is rather meaningful.

It's really a show for LotR fans. Not much can be said about the plot. Of course it's unfair to compare this to the LotR series. But on an individual level, the movie still does not live up to my expectations. 3/5 stars.

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Ah Liang and Charlene's Wedding Lunch At ONE°15 Marina Club

Ok I hardly post anything about wedding lunches and dinners I've been to recently (cos all more or less the same lol). Nolah in fact it's because I've never been to this place at ONE Degree 15 Marina Club at Sentosa Cove for wedding lunch/dinner before so I'm definitely gonna snap lotsa pix at this beautiful place.

Ah Liang and Charlene must have spent lotsa effort and $ too to prepare their wedding lunch at such a place. Even the invitation card was specially prepared with something that looks like a boarding ticket to a plane. In fact it's one of the biggest wedding invitation card I've ever received. So kiasu for what? LOL... The view at the ballroom area was indeed quite a magnificent sight to behold. Plenty of yachts and boats berthed right in front of us, with rows of atas houses in the background. You might think you are in Miami or Hawaii or something.

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Tiong Bahru Bakery

Food hunt! Don't you just love hunting for good food in little Singapore? It may be small, but the wonderful array of food you can find is simply astounding. After the wedding lunch, I went to look for Dear who just finished her JLPT N5 exam at the PSB Academy at Tiong Bahru. We went to look for her auntie who works at the Umeya stall at Tiong Bahru Plaza for a while before we decided to head down to Tiong Bahru Market, which is just about 5-10 mins walk from TBP. where Dear wanted to try the Tiong Bahru Pau stall. She ate a char siew bao, her favourite. It costs 90 cents if I remember correctly.

Then we crossed the road and a short distance away was Tiong Bahru Bakery. I thought it was some old Chinese-style bakery but it's actually more like a cafe with atas breads and pastries. Dear wanted to try their croissants, so we ordered one and tried. OMG it was simply one of the best croissants we have ever tasted so far! Not exaggerating but it's really crispy skin but soft interior was really amazing. Just by looking at it you'll know it tastes really good. Who knows what the other breads will taste like? We bought croissants, chocolate ones, Vienna as well, for our family to try. The verdict? When we ate these breads early next morning, I feel that the croissant ain't that nice anymore. Well of course it's still best to eat it fresh from the oven.

The cafe itself can accommodate up to 30 people at best, I believe. Plain water is free-flow and self-service. Even jam is also free. Quite a nice and cozy place for a lazy Sunday morning. If it wasn't so out of the way, I think we would have gone there already, and quite often too.

56 Eng Hoon Street #01-70
Singapore 160056
8:00AM - 8:00PM Daily (Closed on Tuesdays)

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Swissotel Vertical Marathon 2012

It's the Swissotel Vertical Marathon once again! And this time it's the Silver anniversary of the race, with an intricately designed medal. Lazy to take picture of it hahaha! There was a record 2116 people taking part in the 25th season of the race. Even got myself a Niu Niu cow plushie at $15, with the proceeds going to Swissotel's adopted charities.

This year was the second time I joined the SVM, with my virgin race in 2010 after being asked by Hongming to take part with him. This time round I jioed him instead, as well as Kenneth. Chian San joined for the 4th time, together with another friend of his. And together, the 5 of us raced up the 73 floors, together. I was the deadweight after halfway through and CS kept pushing and encouraging all of us to ascend together. He seemed to be enjoying and not breaking a sweat at all, whereas I was about to faint hahaha!

After an unknown timing (to be revealed soon), we emerged out of the rooftop of Swissotel The Stamford, the helipad area. Staff were there to place the medals around our necks and giving out mineral water. After catching my breath, the Caucasian who dressed up as The Flash also reached the top. I proceeded to take a picture with him hahaha.

Didn't really spend much time on the rooftop admiring the landscape of Singapore cos it was rather foggy. We took some pix and then took the lift back down where Kenneth, HM and I went to Mac to have breakfast. I drank 3 whole bottles of Aquarius from the drinks station lol. Super dehydrated. We hung around for the Men's Open category to start before we made a move. There were 3 competitive Caucasians who came specially to compete in this race and were therefore given the chance to start first. In the end it was an Australian who won at 7 mins plus! Wacauz. He play cheat is it!?

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Momorange 2nd Anniversary

Time really flies when you're having fun. It seems just like yesterday that we got together lol. We cleared leave together for this memorable day and we started off with breakfast downstairs at the market, followed by two rounds of bowling at SAFRA. Must have been my worst performance at bowling, cos I scored less than 100 for round one zzZZzz... After that, we went to queue for the 1-for-1 Subway promotion. Yummy! Then we went back to Dear's home where she baked some cupcakes. First time see Dear preparing cupcakes hehe. Almost did not go for the chocolate buffet since it was raining quite heavily in the afternoon, but eventually we decided to go for it.

Long wanted to try this chocolate buffet at The Club at Marina Bay Sands, therefore brought Dear to this restaurant. All I can say is, the service was awesome. From the phone reservation to the reception and to the waiting of the waitresses at The Club, I'm very impressed by their high level of service. They asked if it was for some event and they actually prepared a small cupcake for our anniversary celebration upon knowing about it when I called to make a reservation. Really excited to visit the SkyPark at MBS cos of all the hype and hearing all the stuff about the magnificent views from there. We got our reservation card from the reception at the first floor of MBS and proceeded to the 57th floor whereby we were greeted with a spectacular panoramic view of Singapore. What's more it's a great view of the citylights of the Marina Bay area and the new Gardens By The Bay, which looked like little toy structures.

The Club, which features 57 different types of food either made of chocolate, or contains chocolate, is situated somewhere in the middle of the Sands SkyPark. It's rather small, probably enough for less than 100 guests, and the food area is just about the size of a bus, maybe smaller. As for the food, well... I guess we shouldn't try such "specialized" buffet ever again, just like durian buffets. It gets really sick after a while, cos it's nothing but chocolate lol. But they really have some interesting stuff made of chocolate, like the Banana Steamed Chocolate, which even came in a traditional bamboo dim sum steamer. Overall it's a rather refreshing experience. Coupled with the entry into the SkyPark, it's definitely worth a try, at least, for all Singaporeans, since there should have been more foreigners than locals having had experienced such an indulgence.

Last of all, Happy 2nd Anniverary to Momorange!

Where's my food!?

Chocolate goodies!!! How to resist?!?

Cookie Monster was not allowed into The Club.

Round 1

Looks more like gold nuggets to me. $_$

A chef was stationed at the ice-cream and donuts station. He looks very bored. Nothing much to do.

Many interesting powder flavours to put on your donuts. There's black pepper some more.

Fruits for chocolate fondue.

They prepared a small cupcake knowing that it was for our anniversary. So cool!

Coffee, tea or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate of course! We're at a chocolate buffet!

Happy anniversary!

This ice-cream looks and tastes like a Magnum.

Dear enjoying her round 2 or 3.

This looks like one of those scented candles.

I found a Dragonball!

Chocolate Caramel Apple Cake

Chocolate Torte

Banana Steamed Chocolate

Cheesecake Lollipop

This mini cone contains chocolate of course, as well as those tiny sweets which pop in your mouth.

This Momo contains chocolate too, as well as those huge cutie eyes which brightens up your day. =D

The bowl is salivating chocolate when it sees these succulent fruits. I would too.

Free champagne when paid using UOB credit cards. How cool is that?

A toast for our anniversary!

The food area is actually quite small. How did they squeeze 57 types of chocolate food there?

My camera lens got fogged once we left the restaurant, which produced this blurred effect.

Dear prefers the blurred picture to this. Hmm...

Gardens By The Bay looks so different from such a height. Looks more like some futuristic homes.

We finally witnessed the Infinity Pool right before our eyes!

Nice background for a pic.

Would like to swim there next time.

Momorange on the top of the world (Singapore).

How often do you get such views in Singapore?

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